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Well I think it depends on where you live. I know up North they get more for deer mounts there and down South they get less. Now that not the case all the time but across the board thats what I have found. I wish I could get 600+ for a deer head here but I know that would put me out of business. What I have done to get up on prices is I have gone up $25 a year for the last few years and up until last year I had really seen no change in what I was taking in. I am not sure the price increase is what knocked me back almost 30% or if it was Blue Tongue but I plan on going up $25 again this year or I will be making less than I made last year because of forms, eyes, earliners and so on going up every year. So with that being said my Magic number this year will be $450 😉
September 26, 2011
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$500.
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I know of a few Taxidermist down here, and the highest i know of is $425. I am at $350 and climbing each year. Down here i don’t know of any one over that.I’m going up every year till i reach a max out point , if you can call it that.:huh: Hoping to go higher this year.
D,
You caused me to think a bit as to how the price gets affected. I know this subject gets batted around from time to time. So I wanted to take a look at it from a different angle than cost of material, overhead, & other usuals. As I think about what is the single most determining factor I come to the following conclusion: the level of work of those doing taxidermy in a particular area I believe is the most determining factor. Followed up by the amount of available taxidermists. For instance, let’s say an affected area has 90-95% lower commercial work going out the door. In this instance I believe you will see the price mostly affected by this. Let’s say in the area I’m using as an example the prices average $350 including a backboard. In this same area the guy who does near competition quality & needs to be charging at least $600 plus extra for the panel he’d be sending too much work up the street because compariatively he’s over priced. His best price in this instance is going to be $450 & he might have to throw in the backboard if the customer wants one. Now let’s flip the coin & say that 90-95% of taxidermists in an affected area are putting out high commercial near competition quality work I bet the price is going to be $450 low end to $650 high end. In this example there’s another factor that shows up. Knowledge level of the customer. In the 1st example you will see a lot of customers aren’t aware of higher quality because they are seldom exposed to it, therefore the level of expectation is lower. In the 2nd example the taxidermists spend more time introducing customers to higher level work so the expectation level goes up & the customer now sees the value is there. Just a little food for thought. I know this is just a scratch on this subject but pricing is an interesting animal to say the least…
Mine are $350 With out panel, they want it ,it cost more.If they want a panel it is $425.Now maybe something to ponder,I was thinking on this also . As i thought about it ,it came to mind how many( Higher end paying customers) does an area have.How many actually leaves there state to hunt others.Those who goes to hunt exotics,or even out of the country. I see these customers being able to foot the bill more than maybe others .Now i am not saying that these people think they are better than others,Just that GOD has blessed them to be able to do that.My area, I only know of maybe a hand full that is able to do this year after year.Now hope no one takes this out of context,but only that maybe an area does have more higher end willing to pay customers.My county is the second largest in the state of Georgia,But our population is only 6000 people.We are a very rural area only affected by one fair size city that is Valdosta.
you guys needed to see page’s seminar on pricing or anybody’s buissnes seminar for that matter. there are formulas for figuring out prices . the only big variable is what you think your time is worth and quality, most other expenes are the same
To many taxidermists are letting others set their prices for them. I’m sorry, but it’s my business, and I won’t let someone else tell me what i’m worth. I charge what I want. If it’s more than people are willing to pay, I don’t have to do it.
I get $400.00 per whitetail shoulder mount. But, my deerheads suck anyway!! LOL ..I’m going up this year to 425.00
I feel as my deer get better my price should be higher because i’m giving my customer the best that i can.I have not been doing this but 6 years so I feel i’m still climbing up the ladder.The past two years I’ve gone up and intend to this year. I’m hoping that if not this year but next to be $400 plus and climbing.If the customer realized what all involves in mounting a deer and actually could do one they would see what we go through.:p I have actually shown a few customers how it’s done and now they are starting to realize it’s more than just skinning and put the hide on. Believe me some told me they heard it was easy to mount a deer ,I told them to drag there BUTT out here and watch,they did and said they didn’t realize that much was involved.So all that said i’m trying to educate them as much as possible between just a mount and a High end great job so they will understand my price increase.
PAGE wrote: To many taxidermists are letting others set their prices for them. I’m sorry, but it’s my business, and I won’t let someone else tell me what i’m worth. I charge what I want. If it’s more than people are willing to pay, I don’t have to do it.
Page I see where you are coming from but on the other hand I also like to pay my bills. I am $55 higher than any other taxidermist around here and the reason for that is mainly you. We have had this talk over and over again and you really opened my eyes to what needs to be charged but my way of gettting there is not over night by making a $100 or $150 jump. If I done that I could close my doors and go look a job. Most Taxidermist are part time and that is the reason for the lower prices they aren’t depending on it to pay their bills.(That is not the case all the time though) I know you think I should take the $100 jump and as you have told me before do less work and make more money but IMO it would’t work that way around here.
:biggergrin:Go ahead Vincent. When I get home tonight I will help you!:biggergrin:
Guy’s hope i have not offended any one , I’m trying to get there year by year.If i have PLease P.M me At 912 520 0129 I don’t want to ( GOD For bid). My faith in christ does not allow me to do that,Hope my choice of words was not Taken wrong.If i had some one to look at my work maybe they could help me on the way!!!!
Artistic Wildlife wrote: Don’t get me started!!!
Go ahead I have heard it from you too 😀
honeybee man wrote: Guy’s hope i have not offended any one , I’m trying to get there year by year.If i have PLease P.M me At 912 520 0129 I don’t want to ( GOD For bid). My faith in christ does not allow me to do that,Hope my choice of words was not Taken wrong.If i had some one to look at my work maybe they could help me on the way!!!!
I don’t think you have offended anyone. This is just one of them topics all of us will not agree on;) If I charged what I really should around here I would be looking a job somewhere so I charge what I feel I can get for the type work I am putting out. Alot of my good friends up here will say I am not charging enough but this day and time I feel I am doing what is right for me and my family.
I charge $550 for a Dear Shoulder Mount period. Doesn’t matter if it is Whitetail, Mule Deer, Blacktail, or Couse. . . I’m not the most expensive Taxidermist in the area/state by any means. I know of a few in the $700 – $800 range for Deer Shoulder Mounts.
honeybee man. . . I’m not exactlly sure where you are in Georgia but I did taxidermy from 2002 – 2006 in Georgia . I still know quite a few Taxidermists in the Albany/Leesburg area. There are deffinitly taxidermists charging more than you.
I have in no way been offended by anyone on this topic. This is something that really gets me going sometimes. We as taxidermist should be the ones setting our own prices, but we do let what other taxidermist in our area charge affect what we charge. If we all would work together we could all do so much better at this. I know shops put out different levels of work and the ones that think there work is not as good as the next guy, charges less so they can get some work. Well get together with the taxidermist in your area and try to fix this problem. If you are charging a $100.00 less than the guy that may be doing better work, then what is stopping you from going from $300.00 to $450.00. If guys in my area would all do this, then I will still be higher than most. What I am saying is, what is the difference between the low end being $350.00 and high end being $600.00= $250.00 difference. So now what is the difference between $500.00 the low end and $750.00 the high end, $250.00. If we work together we will all come out better off. A good or great taxidermist is not on every corner. What amazes me is most people can ride a mower and guys are making $75.00-$100.00 an hour doing this. Will people pay this, yes, they do it all over all day long. I could go on and on with jobs where people make good money at jobs that take little skill. Now, I could stop the next 1000 people I meet and teach them all I know and I would be lucky to find a few that were good at taxidermy. With that being said, we do something that not many can do, so would you not think we should make as much as someone riding a mower. I am not knocking people who mow, they have got it figured out, we are the ones that don’t. As long as there are more taxidermist charging $350.00 than ones charging $600.00, we are going to have a hard row to hoe. Hunters and fisherman spend a lot on there sport and then price shop there mounts. They will pay more if the overall price was higher. It is in our hands to determine what we each do. I also understand we all live in a country where we can charge what we wish, but I know that if most were ask, would you like to make more, the answer would be yes. Just think if the lowest price for a deer mount here in NC was $450.00, then what would be the highest. I would say that $250.00 gap will still be there. Page has broken down what it cost to mount most things and I’ll bet it would scare most to death to know how much it really cost to mount something. Maybe Page will post some of the numbers. I say all this because I have been doing taxidermy for 30 years and I pray that the new and older ones coming along will have it better than me. I have been very blessed with taxidermy and thank GOD for all he has done in my life.
July 22, 2011
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honeybee man wrote: Guy’s hope i have not offended any one , I’m trying to get there year by year.If i have PLease P.M me At 912 520 0129 I don’t want to ( GOD For bid). My faith in christ does not allow me to do that,Hope my choice of words was not Taken wrong.If i had some one to look at my work maybe they could help me on the way!!!!
You are fine Honeybee, I don’t think anyone took anything personal. This has always been a discussion that gets a little heated sometimes. I hope we can discuss this here in a calm way and as adults. This is exactly why I started this post.
Oh yeah, what started this was, I have been on vacation from CFD/HQ all week and I have worked my *** off trying to catch up before deer season starts. I taught a 2 day class, mounted 5 deer, finished up one from last week and got the next one started. At $500 per deer head.
I have had a lot of time to think this week, I ran a few numbers and came to the conclusion I spent my vacation working for less money than I do during the week at my regular job. I should be making time and a half.
After talking to Vince yesterday and with Page today, I have come to the conclusion that my deer will be $600 this year and Im seriously thinking $650.
If I don’t take in a single deer I will be fine. That will give me more time to work on my first “WORLD” piece.:biggergrin:
